Improving the radiochemical purity determination of 123I-labeled metaiodobenzylguanidine

The HPLC method originally applied at the Nuclear Engineering Institute (IEN) for the radiochemical purity determination of ¹²³iodine labeled m-iodobenzylguanidine (¹²³I-mIBG) takes 18.5 min. The final product release also depends on this result, and to facilitate this stage, we aimed to decrease this analysis time. We also intended to use fewer toxic compounds, if feasible. The optimization approach used herein was a combination of factorial and mixture designs to study simultaneously the selected variables. Analysis time, resolution and chromatograms aspect were the measured responses. The qualitative analysis of these responses provided the best chromatographic separation conditions that were 52 mM KH₂PO₄ in a solution of ethanol and water (1:1), applying a flow rate of 0.50 mL min^?1 and C18 column (4.6 × 250 mm, 5 μm). These optimum conditions not only decreased the analysis time in 61 %, but also allowed the reduction of mobile phase toxicity. To assure reliable data, method validation was performed for these conditions. The method has proved its specificity, the detection limit found was 3.70 × 10^?4 MBq mL^?1 and the quantification limit has corresponded to 1.11 × 10^?3 MBq mL^?1. Repeatability and intermediate precision has not exceeded 3 and 5 %, respectively, and the accuracy has matched the interval of 95–105 %. This new method has been routinely applied in the radiochemical purity determination of ¹²³I-mIBG at IEN.     

Different chromatin fractions of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) and related species

Conventional chromosome staining has suggested that more than 75% of the tomato chromosomes are constituted by heterochromatin. In order to determine whether more deeply stained proximal regions are classic heterochromatin, the distributions of C-bands and chromomycin A₃ (CMA) bands, and the prophase condensation patterns, were analysed in tomato. In this and most other species of the tomato clade, the 5S and 45S rDNA sites were also localised. In tomato, CMA banding was similar to C-banding. After conventional staining, all species displayed large condensed heteropycnotic regions that did not correspond to C-bands or CMA bands. Analyses of the CMA banded karyotypes revealed a low heterochromatin content. Around 12–17% of the chromatin of tomato was CMA⁺ and 1/4 to 1/5 of this heterochromatin corresponded to 45S rDNA. In other species, the CMA⁺ heterochromatin showed extensive variation (8–35%), but was never near the values found in the literature for tomato. These data suggest the existence of three principal fractions of chromatin in tomato and related species: the late condensed euchromatin corresponding to the terminal regions of the chromosomes, the precocious condensed euchromatin that occupies the major part of the chromosomes and the constitutive heterochromatin that represents those regions revealed by C-bands.